Mechanism for removing carbon from cylinders of internal-combustion engines



NW. 13 1192& 1,473,688

A. G. THOMAS MECHANISM FOR REMOVING CARBON FROM CYLINDERS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTI ON ENGINES Filed Aug. 1 1923 manna. a. rat; j Q i ihtttfitt tartar v nnsnnn a. reba e, or nrncnncns, vrnernrn MECHANISM FOR REMOVING'CARBON FROM CYLINDERS ornarnnirnn-ccnznuerron ENGINES. I i v Application filed August 3, 19%. seriai'ti'o; 655,180.

To all whom it malyconcern:

v Be it known that I, ALBERT G.,THoMAs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynchburg, in the county of Campbellv and State of -Virginia, have invented certain new and useful lm rovements in Mach anism for Removing arbon from Cylinders of Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanism for removing carbon from the interior of in ternal combustion engines.

The main object of the invention isto provide carbon-removing mechanism located permanently within that portion of the engine cylinder which is to be cleaned and to drive or operate Such mechanism by the movement of a working part of the engine.

This object I} accomplish by the construction shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which 2 Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the cylinder of an ordinary internal combustion engine, showing my carbon-removing mechanism applied thereto.

"Fig. 2 shows a modified form of the driving connection between the piston-carried cleaner or scraper and the connecting rod.

3 is a detail view of a modified form of scraper for the cylinder head.

Fig. 4 is a further modification thereof.

Fig. 5 shows a further modification of the piston-carried cleaner, and

Figs. 6 and 7 are details of a still further modification showing the scraper blade as pivoted instead of rigidly connected to its rotary operating stem.

' ft is highly desirable to keep the walls of the combustion chamber, as defined by the cylinder, cylinder head and working face of the piston, entirely free from the carbon deposits which form thereon, and to this end I provide synchronously operated cleaners or scrapers actuated from working parts of the engine and carried, respectively. by the cylinder head 1 and piston 52. The cleaner or scraper 3 for the upper part of the cylinder is in angular form with its vertically disposedmember 4 engaging the side wall of the cylinder and its transverse member 5 engaging the inner surface of the cylinder head, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The inner end of the member 5 is secured to a vertical shaft or stem 6 extending up through a central bearing opening 7 in the cylinder head and provided with a-retaining collar 8. Theshaft or stem ti at its junction with the scraper is conical in form, as shownat 9, and the. lower end of the central opening is correspondingly shaped so that a gas-tight joint is effected. The upper end of this scraper stem 6 is provided with a bevel pinion 10 meshing with a bevel pinion 11 on the end of a shaft 1-2 driven from some moving part of the engme, not shown. This scraper stem 6 may be geared in any suitable manner to a movmg part ofthe engine so as to be continuously operated during the operation of the eng1ne. The removed carbon will, of course, be carried off through the exhaust.

in Fig. 3 the two arms of the angled scraper for the cylinder head are formed as rollers 18-18 to remove the carbon by a rolling scraping action instead of merely scraping as in Fig. l.

in Fig. 4: the arms 22, 22 are arranged at an angle to each other, as are the scraper arms in Fig. 1, but these arms 22, 22 are made tubular for the assage of one run of an endless driven metallic band 19; the outer run of said band extending along the inner exposed faces of the scraper arms 22, 22' and passing over a guide .pin or roll 20 in the angle at the juncture of said scraper arms. This .endless band 19 passes over a pulley 24:, on a driving shaft 21 at the inner end of the scraper arm 22, which shaft 21 is constantly driven by means of its bevel gear 25 which meshes into a similar gear 26 on the lower end of a shaft 27 extending through a longitudinal bore in the scraperoperating shaft 6; shafts 6 and 27 are provided with gears 10 I and 28, respectively, driven from moving parts of the engine. The exposed faces of the scraper arms 22, 22 are thus prevented from having a coating of carbon deposited thereon, since the endless band will protect the same and keep them clean and will in turn be cleaned by edges 19' at the inner end of arm 22.

I will now describe the scraper mechanism for the Working face of the piston. It will be seen in Fig. 1 that there is a central vertical stem 30 extending through the piston 2, and having a transverse scraper arm 31 engaging the working face of the piston. The stem 30 has the same conical portion 32 as that shown on stem 6 of the other scraper and the same conical recess in the piston so as to form a gas-tight oint. The

stem 30 has a collar 33 next to the under face of the piston to retain the stem in r I place. Ilns stem 30 may be continuously oscillated or rotated during the operation of the engine in any suitable manner. In Fig. 1 the stem 30 is oscillated by means of a bex'el gear 34 on its lower end. which gear meshes with the upper toothed edge 35 of the connecting rod 2. so that the oscillation stem 30 and its scraper will be continuously rotated instead of being oscillated. In Figs.

6 and 7 the scraper 39, instead of being rigidly connected. to its stem, is pivoted to a transverse arm 40 projecting from the stem the scraper 39 being inclined. and it may be held yieldingly to the face of the piston by a spring 40.

In Fig. 5 the scraper 31 and stem 30 are the same as in Fig. 1. but the stem has a coarse spiral thread 41 between its ends. and upon this threaded portion is mounted an internally threaded weight 42 at opposite sides of which spiral springs 43. 44 are mounted on the stem and connected to wash-v ers 4.5 bearing on opposite faces of the weight 42. These springs serve as elastic buffers for the weight during its up and down movements on the stem. As the piston is reciprocated a like motion relative to the stem will be imparted to weight 42 and it will, due to its inertia. in'ipart rotary mo tion to the stem and scraper. If desired. friction may be applied to the periphery of weight 42 in any suitable manner to retard its rotary movement and insure the rotation of the scraper shaft.

The scraper members may be of any suitable number and construction, such as blades, rollers, brushes and the like. and such are intended to be included under the term scraper or scraper members, and any suitable means may be employed to drive the scrapers during the operation of the engine, In all f the several forms the scrapers are operatively connected to and driven by a moving element of the enginein contradistinction to various loose devices dropped into the combustion chamber and thrown up and down by the piston, with the prospect of clogging and injuring the valve mechamsm.

' It is obvious that any improvements may 2. The combination with an engine cylinden of a rotary actuating shaft or stem mounted centrally in the cylinder head, an angled scraper on the inner e nd,of the shaft and engaging the inner wall of'the combustion chamber and inner face of the cylinder head. and means for actuating the outer end of the shaft from a moving part of the engme.

3. The combination with an engine cylinder, of a rotary shaft mounted centrally in the cylinder head, means for preventing the escape of gas past the said shaft, a scraper on the inner end of the shaft to remove carbon from the walls of the combustion chamber. and means for rotating the shaft from a moving part of the engine.

4. The combination with an engine cylin-- der and its piston, of rotary carbon removers carrier by the cylinder head and piston. respectivelyand engaging the walls of the combustion chamber and working face of the piston. and means for actuating the said rotary carbon removers from moving parts of the engine. Y

5. The combination with an engine pis- 1 ton, of a shaft or stem extending centrally through the piston head and provided with a scraping device engaging the working face of the piston, and means for actuating said shaft or stem upon the reciprocation of the piston. I

6. The combination with an enginepiston and its connecting rod, of a shaftor' stem extending through the piston head and provided with a carbon-removing device traversing the working face of the piston, and gearing connecting the lower end of the shaft with the adjacent end of the connect. ing rod for operating said shaft.

7. The combination with an engine piston 1 and its connecting rod, of a shaft or stem extending through the piston head and provided with a carbon remover traversing the working face of the piston, a horizontal ratchet disk on the lower end of said shaft, a verticallydisposed gear provided with a pawl engaging said-ratchet and also having its lower edge toothed; the upper end of the said connecting rod having gear teeth meshing the lower toothed edge of the verticallv disposed gear.

8. The combination with an engine cylinder, of a rotary hollow actuating shaft mounted centrally in the cylinder head, means for operating the shaft from a moving part of the engine, an angled hollow scraper on the inner end of the shaft, an endless metallic hand one run of which extends along the exposed side of the scraper B to prevent deposition of carbon thereon and the other run extending through the scraper, a transverse shaft at the inner benduof the band for driving the same, a drive shaft extending through the hollow shaft and geared to said transverse shaft, and means for actuating said hollow shaft and the vertical shaft Within it from moving parts of the engine.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ALBERT G. THOMAS. 

